immigration, american indians and westward expansion

old immigrants

, most of the immigrants were from Western European nations, including Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany, among others. Immigrants from these regions became known as ____

"new immigrants"

_____ came to the United States in the late 1800s and were mostly from areas in Eastern and Southern Europe, especially Italy, Poland, and Russia. The "new immigrants" settled into ethnic neighborhoods in large cities such as Boston, New York, and Chicago. These new immigrants had different characteristics from the old immigrants who had come to North America, and they did not easily blend into American society. Most of the immigrants were very poor and were forced to live in very bad conditions in tenement slums.

Jane Addams

who founded settlement homes. These homes provided food, medical care, and education to people who could not have afforded it otherwise.She was a social reformer who played a crucial role in the settlement house movement, particularly in assisting newly arrived immigrants.

Some Americans did not welcome immigrants and feared competition for jobs. These Americans were known as

nativists.

nativists

They were mostly Protestants of British heritage. Nativists distrusted immigrants generally, but they especially disliked Catholics because they feared that Catholics were more loyal to the pope and their religion than to the United States. One target of particular scorn was the Irish, many of whom were Catholic.

Americanization

movement were less than tolerant of immigrants. Instead of encouraging the preservation of different cultures, the Americanization movement sought to force immigrants to assimilate into mainstream American culture. Examples of Americanization includes making immigrants learn to speak English.

Chinese Exclusion Act

a ban applying to Chinese immigrating to the United States in search of work. Because most Chinese immigrants came to the United States for job opportunities, the act prevented nearly all Chinese immigration to the United States. The Chinese Exclusion Act introduced the idea of limiting immigration by national origin

After the Russian Revolution, fear of foreign influence led to passage of the Immigration Act of 1924, which established

quotas, or limits, on the number of people who could enter the United States from other nations.

Ellis Island

served as the chief U.S. immigration station. Nearly all immigrants crossing the Atlantic Ocean stopped at Ellis Island before continuing on to the mainland. There, each immigrant was given identity paperwork, checked for infections, and sent on to New York City. The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island just south of Ellis Island, which today make up the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

Angel Island was an

immigration station in San Francisco Bay that processed immigrants between 1910 to 1940. Most immigrants that passed through Angel Island were of Asian heritage, particularly from China and Japan. Because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Chinese immigrants faced many restrictions and were not allowed to enter the country unless they had relatives who were American citizens. Immigrants were detained on the island in prison-like conditions for weeks or months as they waited for immigration officials to determine whether or not they would be allowed to enter the country.

the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted

birthright citizenship to all persons born in the United States (including the children of immigrants) regardless of race or nationality

The "Gentlemen's Agreement" of 1907 was an

informal agreement between the United States and Japan in which the United States agreed not to pass laws excluding Japanese immigration as long as Japan prevented its citizens from emigrating

The map shows that the lowest percentage of immigrants settled in the

Southeastern United States. There were fewer job opportunities there.

Many Chinese immigrants escaping poverty settled in the

Western states and worked on railroads before the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed.

Many Scandinavian immigrants came to the United States to escape poverty and settled on farms in the

Midwest and Great Plains.

Many Russian Jews came to the United States to escape persecution. They tended to settle in the

Northeast industrial cities

manifest destiny

the belief that Americans were destined to expand across the continent, promoting westward expansion and the idea of American exceptionalism.

According to the Treaty of New Echota, signed in 1835, the Cherokee would give up their land east of the Mississippi River in exchange for land west of the Mississippi River and $5 million. Most of the members of the Cherokee tribe did not agree with this treaty and refused to move. In 1838, the U.S. government sent troops to force the Cherokee to move to what is now Oklahoma. Along the 1,000-mile route from Georgia to Oklahoma, over 4,000 American Indians died due to disease, starvation, and exposure to cold weather. The journey they took is referred to as the

trail of Tears.

bison

which move in large herds, often created challenges for the transcontinental railroad. As a result, the U.S. government had an interest in reducing bison herds. During the mid to late 1800s, the bison declined to near extinction after the U.S. Army actively promoted their slaughter. This eliminated American Indian food sources and weakening their populations.

Indian Appropriations Act

creating the first reservations for American Indians. American Indians resisted being relocated to these reservations, and the U.S. government and the American Indians fought a series of wars known as the American Indian Wars. Following the defeat of many tribes, the American Indians were forced to live on the reservations, where they then had to rely on the government for food and housing.

Dawes Severalty Act

an 1887 law that aimed to assimilate American Indians by allotting them individual plots of land and granting U.S. citizenship, thereby abolishing communal tribal landholdings.

American Indian Boarding Schools

institutions established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to forcibly assimilate Native American children into Euro-American culture, stripping them of their languages and traditions.

Red Cloud

was a Sioux leader who was concerned about the loss of prestige of his tribe. In order to gain support of ordinary citizens, Red Cloud visited the Cooper Union school in New York City in June 1870, where he gave a famous speech. His speech focused on the issues that the Sioux tribe had with people moving on to their land and ignoring signed treaties. He was hoping that people would help the tribe after he had failed to get help from President Ulysses S. Grant.

Comanche leader Quanah Parker worked to stop the spread of

Anglo American settlements on American Indian land. He was among the last American Indians to surrender to the U.S. government. He never stopped working for his people afterwards. He fought for the rights of American Indians and represented their interests in Washington, D.C., before the federal government.

Nez Perce Chief Joseph attempted to lead his people to Canada to seek refuge from the advancement of the white settlers. He was stopped at the border by the U.S. Army and spoke the now famous words: "Here me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands,

I will fight no more, forever." His people were sent to the region then known as Indian Territory.

battle of wounded knee

was a massacre of Lakota Sioux by U.S. troops in 1890, marking the end of the Indian Wars. It was a tragic event resulting from tensions over the U.S. government's policies toward Native Americans and the loss of their lands.